This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
Jake Burton, 19, was thrilled for his very first flight, his mother, Rachael Burton, told Business Insider.
Jake, Rachael, and Jake’s father, Chris, were scheduled to board a Ryanair flight on December 28 out of England’s East Midlands Airport to Alicante, Spain, for an eight-day New Year’s trip in nearby Benidorm.
The family arrived on the airport, checked in for his or her flight, went through security, and eventually arrived at their gate.
Excitement — and nerves for the first-time flyer — set in, Rachael said.
The flight began boarding, and when the family reached the desk to scan their tickets and have their passports checked, a Ryanair employee told Jake that his passport was damaged, Rachael said. He wasn’t allowed to board the flight.
A small tear within the passport prevented the 19-year-old from flying
On the primary page of the passport, above the page that displays Jake’s photo and data, was a tear near the binding of the passport.
Jake’s passport had been issued in October 2022, and the family said they hadn’t noticed the tear. They consider it happened when Jake used his passport recently as his primary type of identification after his wallet and IDs were stolen.
BI couldn’t find anything on the airline’s website with details about damaged passports, but a Ryanair representative told BI the highest corner of the passport was also missing and said in a press release that “this 19-year-old adult passenger was appropriately refused travel on this flight from East Midlands to Alicante (28 Dec) by the gate agent at East Midlands Airport as his passport was damaged and subsequently not valid for travel.”
But the UK government says a damaged passport is “one which the shopper cannot use as proof of identity due to its condition.” This can include laminate peeling, detached pages, “where the front, back or personal details page has been cut,” or damage like tears, rips, or bite marks, the web site states.
Jake Burton and the tear in his passport. Rachael Burton via BI
Meanwhile, Jake’s parents were still capable of board the flight. Rachael said their son encouraged them to go on their eight-day trip without him.
“There was no way on this planet. I just couldn’t do it,” she said. “I would not have the option to enjoy myself.”
The family decided to search for other options. Rachael said the Ryanair employee told her other airlines is likely to be willing to just accept the passport. The family headed to a different budget airline’s desk and were told the passport’s tear was small and high quality to travel with, she said.
“They accepted the passport instantly and said that they might attempt to get us on a distinct flight,” she said. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t some other flight available.”
Defeated, the family headed home. They first needed to exit through border control. There, Rachael said, a border control agent also thought the passport looked high quality.
“Her exact words were, ‘I’m so sorry for you because I feel these passports are high quality,'” Rachael said.
“For other people to say, ‘This passport is high quality,’ that is what’s frustrating,” Rachael said.
Instead of spending New Year’s Eve in Spain, they ended up having a quiet night at home in England.
Passengers in line at a Ryanair check-in desk. EyesWideOpen/Getty Images via BI
The family lost greater than $1,500
Rachael said that altogether, the family lost £1,234, or about $1,560 USD, between flights and transportation to and from the airport.
This is not the primary time an individual has been denied boarding because of a damaged passport. In December, a pair needed to cancel their honeymoon to Turkey after Turkish Airlines prohibited the husband from flying with a water-damaged passport, BI previously reported.
Ultimately, Rachael encourages others to double-check their passports before a visit and avoid using them as their on a regular basis ID.
“With it being that small, I didn’t realize something like this might jeopardize you going,” she said.
For future trips, the family said they’d get covers for his or her passports.
“We’re getting him a recent one now, and it will be under lock and key in a pleasant cupboard,” Rachael said.
